UPDATE: In an email message to parents, West Hollywood Elementary School’s principal yesterday said the school had “held an impromptu parent meeting in the auditorium at school and began to address safety concerns in one of our classes. In an effort to provide support to students we will have a representative from School Mental Health Services on campus on Thursday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Please reach out to me at the school office at 310.274.5313 or elizabeth.lehmann@lausd.net should you wish for your child to speak with a representative.”
Neither Principal Lehman nor the Los Angeles Unified School District has responded to date to requests from WEHOville for information about the incidents that spurred the demonstration described below by parents outside the school on Wednesday.
A half dozen parents led by “Sharknado” and “Beverly Hills 90210” star Ian Ziering led a demonstration outside West Hollywood Elementary School this morning to demand the school take action regarding a student who they accused of engaging in bullying and violent behavior.
Ziering’s celebrity status led to stories about the demonstration being posted on DailyMail.com and TMZ.com.
In an interview with TMZ, Ziering said the second grade student this year alone has “beaten up and bloodied” 10 students and forced the evacuation of two classrooms. Since kindergarten, Ziering said, the student has threatened to kill a fellow student and tried to suffocate one with a bean bag.
Ziering and his wife, Erin, have two daughters, ages five and seven, both of whom attend the school.
Ziering said he and other parents have asked the Los Angeles Unified School District to deal with the issue but nothing has been done.
WEHOville reached out to West Hollywood Elementary Principal Elizabeth Lehman, who refused to take our call and referred us to someone who apparently is on the LAUSD staff and hasn’t responded as of publication to our inquiry.
Ziering told TMZ he won’t drop the issue, saying there are problems that “have to be addressed. If I leave the school that’s just leaving the problem there. It has to be dealt with.”
Beverly Hills 90210 star needs to send his kids to Beverly Hills School District a mile away. Come on buddy with all the cash you made you can’t afford a house in BH?
This is an African American child being bullied by white entitled parents. This is an excellent school. There are several children who are more dangerous than this child, yet no complaints because these children are white. FYI I’m an Anglo teacher at this school.
Thank you! Please do post more relevant information on this story with some supporting evidence because, we are not getting the entire story. If true, it casts a whole other light on this very serious matter! This could be a case of an African American child being the victim of racially motivated assaults and, being cornered in a flight or fight response successfully repelling his attackers.
If this is a recurring problem with a single student and you don’t believe the school is handling it properly, then the parent should file a police report or call children’s services themselves. You needn’t wait for the school to respond.
The Florida school shooting in Feb. was committed by a student who had been a big problem for a long time, and it was concluded the deaths could have been avoided if it weren’t for a federal policy to not remove problem students so that, upon graduation, they don’t already have a record that would prevent them from being accepted into colleges, or to qualify for jobs and other opportunities. They wanted to short-circuit what they called the “school to prison pipeline”. I taught in public schools and most people have no idea how bad it is. I was assaulted… Read more »
If what is being said is the complete truth here, the question begs to be asked “how has this problem been allowed to go on for so long much less exist in the first place?” Yes I know the young bully may very well have his side of the story but, suffering injustice is NOT a justification to subject others to the same thing! Way back in the 20th Century when I was going to school, myself and a few of my friends were constantly being called the n word, told to return to our parents home country and, sometimes… Read more »
We had a horrible experience at West Hollywood Elementary for years. Our child was bullied by a child physically and verbally for 3 years with zero help from the district, teachers or principal. Coach F was so unprofessional, mean, inappropriate and also bullied and belittled both of our boys and many others. He was fired. We left the school. It’s a horrible place. Sad because most of the teachers and staff are wonderful. Our kids loved their friends and the community and activities. However, they weren’t in a safe, fair, predictable environment so we pulled them out two years ago.… Read more »
The principal won’t take the call and LAUSD won’t respond. NOT GOOD!